Deep Roots
by LindRawr
Summary: After Danzo's sudden death the horrors of the Root Organization are revealed and Naruto along with Sai are forced onto a world were emotions and bonds are commonplace. Can he really join the "real" world after growing up in the Root or has his time in the dark underground left him incapable of emotion? UA Root Naruto. Not sure about pairings at the moment.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

A/N: Yep. Another Root/Smart Naruto story!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

He was already a relatively small child. His shaven head and bland, dark garb only worked to further cloak him in the large crowd. It wasn't uncommon for a person to bump into or trip over the boy only to find him gone as they look down again to apologize, for the boy had already slyly darted out of sight. After about three times of this happening the boy remembered himself and instead stayed and politely accepted the person's apology. He might as well get used to it. Only a few days had passed since the day he sat straight up in his bed, woken suddenly by an intense tingling sensation at the base of his tongue. The boy's first instinct was that he been speaking of Danzo in his sleep and the curse seal had activated, but the sensations never turned to paralysis. Instead it eventually ceased until stopping entirely. He exited his room to find the Root HQ in the closest thing to panic it has ever and probably ever will be in.

Seemingly everybody was out of bed and padding about, exchanging in hushed conversations. Guards, meanwhile were trying to usher everybody back into their respective rooms. Side-stepping a particularly forceful guard, the boy ducked into a near-by bathroom. There he coolly examined the reflection that stared back at him through the small but pristine mirror above the metal sink. As per Danzo's personal request he keep his head shaved, a task few other of the Root had to complete. As to why he had to do this- he didn't know. Danzo disapproved of questions, needless conversation in the whole, really. And in all honestly, the boy held no curiosity. All knowledge needed for his missions were directly supplied to him and as it would seem, it was knowledge he didn't need.

The only things that seemed particularly striking about the boy-and frequently caused Danzo to frown at the hopelessness of it-were his eyes that managed to appear a bright and dull blue at the same time, and the three vertical scars on each of his cheeks. Besides that he was a small, slender bodied boy who to the average eye was quite unremarkable. Hence his current success in the Root organization.

Remembering the panic outside, and why he himself had woken, he leaned closer to the mirror, sticking his tongue out. He immediately noticed that the bar pattern of Danzo's curse seal was missing. Had Danzo broken the seal? Or had he died? He couldn't fathom any other way seal could have disappeared.

With no concrete answer he exited the bathroom and let himself be pushed through the crowd and led back into his room by guards. When the door swung shut again, cloaking him in darkness he climbed back into bed and promptly closed his eyes and waited for sleep.

The next day he was woken by ANBU who order him to pack all his belongings and come with them. They informed him that Danzo was in fact killed in battle and the Root organization was to be terminated immediately. Seeing as Root was a rather controversial and secretive subdivision of the ANBU, all member of the now disbanded program were to be taken back and tested and screened to see where they would best fit in the Shinobi ranks. One the ANBU donning a dog mask informed him that he was one of the special cases and would be taken to the Hokage to discuss their future standing. He nodded, gathered his few belongings- mostly weapons and extra sets of clothing- and followed the ANBU willingly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX Two Months Later XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That was about two months ago and he still had not gotten used to the change. He was now on his way to the training fields, where he was to train with Sai-a fellow former Root member- and observe the other teams. After speaking to the Hokage he learned that he, now given the name "Naruto" and the other boy given the name "Sai" were of perfect age to take the Chuunin Exam. To avoid complications with the fact that they were not actually a team large enough to participate in the first two rounds, they weren't coming in until the preliminaries. Which were beginning tomorrow. After the Exams they were both going to be added to Team 7 which currently only consisted of only two Genin. Naruto had mentioned that it would probably make more sense to let Team 7 remain as it is and have Sai and himself form their own team but that had the Hokage and the council members uneasy.

The last two months had been the oddest of twelve year old Naruto's life. He now shared a medium sized apartment with Sai, as recommended personally by the Hokage. His daily life now consisted of training and practicing basic ninja techniques that focused more on Ninjutsu and Taijutsu and less of the long range, stealth and Genjutsu training the Root promoted. Perhaps the oddest part was Sai's addition to his life. The boy had adapted rather well to a no longer Root regulated life. In a few short months, he had managed to fill their home with a discerning amount of books about building friendships and showing emotion. As recommended by a passage in one of said books he was giving everybody nicknames. Sai seemed oblivious to others reactions to these names but Naruto noticed various different facial changes in response. Naruto still didn't understand why certain nicknames offended certain people (Sai was rather good at attributing prominent traits in a nickname, or so Naruto thought.) but he could recognize which facial changes meant that a fist would be swinging in the face of his falsely smiling comrade's face soon.

Only the nickname Sai gave him confused him. About a month ago he started referring to him as "Sunshine". As it went against his nature, he didn't question it, but he assumed it had something to do with his hair. Another new oddity to his life. His hair. Naruto couldn't remember a time when his hair had grown longer than a bit of light fuzzy stubble on his head but now it was quite long. It had grown into golden gravity defying, untamable spikes that reached to his shoulders. He was no longer required to keep his head hairless and no one had any objection to him just letting the unruly locks to grow. To say he was no longer unremarkable would be an understatement.

Now everywhere he went heads turned in puzzlement of the golden haired, blue eyed child that seemed to come out of nowhere. Needless to say he preferred to quickly maneuverer around crowds through backstreets and alleyways in a manor reminiscent of his Root days despites the Hokage's suggestion to act as "natural" as possible. Honestly, he believed that as controversial as Danzo's ways were, they were riddled with logic. It felt unnatural to move about in such plain sight. It also left him vulnerable to verbal confrontation. The workings of "socializing" were still a mystery to him.

There had been many instants when girls and even a few boys around his age had approached him only to run away gigging. Even on the occasion they could hold their composure long enough for Naruto to give a polite "hello", it always ended in giggling or squealing or some other weird high pitched noise. Perhaps Naruto would never understand social etiquette. It should be obvious why the boy had regressed to traveling in the shadows.

Besides a few ANBU missions he had been personally requested to help on, he had done nothing but train these last few months and honestly he was a bit bored. Usually he was in and out of the Root HQ all the time on recon and assassination missions (his specialty). Sai told him he should treat this as what people called "vacation", a break people apparently take from their duties. He had replied that time not spent following orders through was wasted time to which Sai had no rebuttal even after leafing through several books.

Now there was only one more day till he and Sai were scheduled to make their appearance at the Exams. During these months leading up to the Exam he had learned quite a bit about his future teammates and all those in the Chuunin Exam that he may have to spar against. But he was rather confused as to why he had to take the Exams in the first place. Sai and him where both trained to be at about the level of an ANBU. The Hokage had mumbled something about wanting them to be around children their own age but the dog masked ANBU later revealed to him that they didn't want to cause an up-stir by giving an instant promotion to a couple unknown ninjas their age.

To put everything in terms he would understand better, the Hokage told him it was his mission to "assess the Rooky 8" and "learn what he can about them in preparation for the Exams." Which he did with perfect stealth and skill, naturally the Jounin instructors noticed him and knew of his mission but none of the Genin noticed him. From his observations had had learned a variety of things about his future team. The team was currently made up of Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha and the Jounin leader Kakashi Hatake.

Kakashi Hatake is referred to as the Copy ninja and is apparently quite famous for his Sharingan eye. He is consistently late and seems to favor Sasuke over the girl. But at the same time he is usually equally ignoring both of them in favor for a small book entitled Icha Icha Paradise.

Sakura Haruno was easily identifiable by her pink hair and green eyes. Her forehead was also strangely broad in proportion with the rest of her face. She seemed to have something of a "split personality" as Sai informed him and took part in much of the "giggling and squealing" around her other teammate Sasuke Uchiha. Her actually skill in any and all ninja skill was subpar, but she did inhibit a decent chakra control but that may be in part because of her low reserves.

Sasuke Uchiha was somewhat harder to get a read on. Other peers deemed him a "genius" but his skill-although greatly surpassing the girl's- was nothing special compared to which he had witnessed in the Root. After doing a bit more research, Sai and Naruto learned that his skills perfectly met the standards given at the academy. Naruto and Sai, to say the least, were not impressed with the standards set at the academy. He had even gone to argue the disband of the Root with the Hokage. Sai and himself were at a significantly higher skill level then those trained at the academy. When Naruto mentioned that there were no obvious setbacks to Danzo's methods the Hokage had made another one of those facial expressions he didn't understand. Later at home Sai had tried to match the expression with those in his book but couldn't decide between something called "regret" and "disappointment".

A/N: Sorry about the sucky ending to the chapter, I never really know how to end things. *Spoiler to the manga*. As you can see I had Danzo die earlier than he does in the manga but I wanted to introduce Naruto to the gang before the time skip. Also Sai finds the desire to make friends and bonds without Canon Naruto influencing him. I'm attributing this to the fact that he still young and hasn't finished his Root training yet. Also this should be about the time he befriends his "brother" but before they are told to fight to the death which is supposed to kill all last desire for bonds. *end of spoiler* I'm not sure who will be the pairings and if there will even be any yet, but let me know what you think about that and the story idea in general in a review! Thanks for reading! R & R please!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The preliminaries were being held in a considerably large arena. All the Genin were up on the balcony, about 20 feet above the ground. Surprising enough all of the Rooky 8 along with the Genin from Suna had made it this far. None of the test proctors or Jounin instructors had acknowledged Naruto and Sai's sudden appearance and the other Genin were eyeing them wearily. It didn't help that Sai was "smiling" at them.

Naruto supposed that their appearance might seem a bit odd. Not only were they absent during the first two phases but none of the Genin could say that they knew them from their village. The suspicious eyes of the other ninja also seemed to dial in on their clothes quite a bit, which was something he had noticed when he was around Shinobi. More specifically ANBU or someone of higher stature.

Anyways, he assumed it had something to do with the way they dressed. Although there was no official uniform in Root, which was important for being subtle, there were a lot of parallels. Both of the boys donned short black jackets, as administered by the Root, and fitted black pants that were tucked into black combat boots. Under his jacket Naruto normally opted for a fishnet shirt and Sai stayed loyal to his cropped shirt that displayed his midriff. The boys had also been given leaf headbands rather unceremoniously a few days prior to the exam. Sai had immediately tied his around his forehead, stating that he was, after taking a few moments to find an appropriate word, "glad" to be affiliated with something once again. Naruto nodded at this, feigning understanding.

Naruto, on the other hand removed the metal plate from the band and stitched it on a longer piece of cloth and fastened it around his thigh. He had originally tried to wear it as it was intended, but having his hair pushed back so felt wrong. As if reading his mind, the eyes of the Genin zeroed in on their headbands. Eyes widened and eyebrows quirked in response. Naruto turned towards Sai for his opinion to find him already leafing through his book.

"….They are either surprised; a reaction to an unexpected event or….pained?" Sai whispered. What could they be surprised about, Naruto wondered. They knew of the preliminaries didn't they? Even if not, after the explanation by Hayate Gekko everything should have been cleared up.

"I hope your pain ceases soon, comrades!" Sai suddenly exclaimed, voice full of forced cheer and false smile fully intact. The reply was a mix of cocked heads, scrunched up eyes and snorts. Sai didn't even bother try and decode that.

"Who are they, Kakashi-sensi?" Sakura blurted out. "Erm, I mean, they're wearing leaf headbands, but I don't remember them from the academy." She amended for her rudeness.

The Jounin looked up slowly from his book, briefly made eye contact with Naruto before turning back to the pink haired girl and answering casually. "Oh, that's just Naruto and Sai. They'll be joining our team after the Exams."

"Wait, what?" Sasuke exclaimed. "Who are they anyways? Rejects? I recognize neither of them from the academy. Are they even from Konoha?!"

"Does this mean it won't just be Sasuke and I anymore?" Sakura added, pouting slightly.

"There are parts of Konoha you may not be familiar with, Sasuke." Kakashi chided, "But I assure you they deserve to be here just as much as everybody else. Possibly more so." Cocking his head slightly as he added that last bit.

"But Sasuke and I-" Sakura began.

"Are very lucky you finally not only have a full team, but an extra teammate." Kakashi finished.

"Oh." She mumbled closing her mouth, staring at them a moment longer before blushing and looking away. Sasuke just grumbled and glared at the board as it randomly selected the first match up. Uchiha Sasuke and…..Yoroi Akado.

At Sasuke's name girls (i.e. Sakura and Ino) began cheering and giggling. Ignoring them completely, Sasuke jumped down into the arena along with the other boy. The fight was over quickly. Even after having his chakra absorbed by the other ninja, Sasuke managed to take him out using hand to hand combat.

Up next were Shino Aburame and Zaku Abumi, then Misumi Tsurugi and Kankuro. Only when Sai and Kabuto's names where called did Naruto bother to watch. Oddly enough, Kabuto forfeited as soon as his name was called and Sai won by default. Shrugging, Sai looked to the board for the next matching. Ino and Sakura.

Just as Naruto had expected the fight was somewhat uneventful. The Ino girl displayed an interesting clan ability, the Mind Body Switch Technique. Nonetheless the battle was painfully equal and lasted quite a while before they simultaneously knocked each other out.

The next fight was against two girls and lasted only a few minutes. Then there was a lazy looking boy who used a Shadow Imitation Technique to outsmart his opponent. Finally Naruto was up.

He nodded his thanks to Sai's whispered "good luck" before jumping down to meet his opponent, a Kiba Inuzuka. He wanted to get this over quickly.

Naruto walked over to where a feral looking boy with triangle tattoos on his face and his dog were standing with the referee. He smirked, revealing pronounced canines, as did the dog.

"You guys ready?" a sick looking conductor asked in between coughs.

"Let's do this!" Kiba growled.

"I'm ready." Naruto seconded.

"Alright then," the man backed up a considerable amount of space before shouting "GO!"

Naruto immediately slipped into a stance as Kiba tossed his dog a soldier pill and turned him into a Beast Human Clone. Not waiting for the Inuzuka to attack, he rushed forward using his highly advanced Body Flicker Technique to appear behind the boy right before he would have crashed face first into him. He harshly struck at the boy's clone and it turned back into a dog with a high pitched yelp causing Kiba to turn and swing blindly at Naruto who moved quickly out of the way.

Growling and crouching in a way truly animalistic in front of his dog's limp form, he leap at Naruto who quickly avoided each and every of his out of control attacks. The more he missed the more of his composure he lost. Naruto began throwing punches and kicks in between Kiba's advances. From the balcony it appeared even more impressive and embarrassing -for Kiba- than it was.

All that the naked eye could see was an angry boy swinging wildly at a flash of yellow, crumpling and reacting regularly to unseen attacks.

Eventually Naruto grew somewhat bored. He didn't want to have to hurt the boy, it wasn't his mission, but despite the fact that his attacks had slowed and he was considerably beat up he still came at Naruto with the same...hmmm, what's the word? Eh, maybe he'd ask Sai later…

Realizing this wasn't going to end soon at this pace, he stopped going easy and instead rushed forward, barely avoiding flailing limbs and slammed a knock-out blow to Kiba's head. His unconscious body hit the ground with a sickening thud. Naruto's victory was called and met with only a bit of scattered uneasily applause, mostly from a Jounin dressed entirely in a horrible shade of green, and a younger exact clone Genin.

Not appreciating the strange look on everybody's face, he quickly jumped back up to the balcony and reclaimed his spot next to Sai who gave him another false smile. He waved his book in front of Naruto's face before using it to gesture at all the Genin and Jounin who had now seemed to crowd in closer, trying to get a good look at the pair.

"I think they are either impressed or nauseated…or scared?" Sai whispered. Sai first theory was proved when one a girl, with buns on both side of her head tried to engage Naruto in conversation.

"Your Body Flicker Technique is so impressive! Have you ever tried using Flying Thunder God Kunai?" Tenten inquired.

"No. But I've heard about them" Naruto responded smoothly.

"Well you should try one, someone as fast as you could make good use of them!" She recommended, smiling politely.

"Thank you for sharing your opinion." Naruto replied, and then he attempted to throw in one of the fake smiles Sai employed, causing the girl's own smile to crumple slightly as she stepped back instinctively. Hmm, perhaps he needed to work on that.

"Uh, well, it was nice speaking to you. I should probably get back to my team now. Bye!" She muttered nervously before walking away. Her own awkward attempt didn't dampen the atmosphere and the boys were quickly rushed by Sakura, who suddenly seemed more welcoming to her new teammates, and Ino who was struggling to get to the boys first.

"Naruto-kun! That was so cool! And I'm sure you would have been amazing too if Kabuto hadn't have forfeited, Sai-kun!" Sakura giggled.

"Totally! I bet you're geniuses!" Ino added, flipping her long blond hair.

"Well I'm not sure about Sunshine, but I am of higher intelligence." Sai joked, smiling.

"Sunshine?" Sakura inquired.

"Yes. That's my nickname for Naruto. Nicknames are important part of establishing bonds," Sai explained.

"Oooh! That's so cute! Wanna give me a nickname?" Ino giggled, fluttering her eyes.

"Yeah me, too!" Sakura chimed in happily. Sai smiled and put his hand against chin in thought. He turned towards Naruto for a suggestion but got only a shrug.

Naruto felt a little uneasy about the whole thing. He was pretty certain Sai would upset at least one of the girls, and he tensed slightly in anticipation as Sai turned to Sakura and opened his mouth.

"I'll call you….Ug-"Sai began.

"Cherry blossom!" Naruto inserted, saving Sai a beating. Sai nodded slowly, frowning slightly in thought.

"And I'll call you…gorgeous." Sai concluded, talking to Ino who instantaneously blushed bright red. As both girls walked away squealing, Sai turned to Naruto.

"How did you know to give them false nicknames?" Sai probed.

"After watching you give nearly everyone we've met a nickname, I've come to the conclusion that people prefer to be lied to." Naruto replied calmly.

"But my book says that nicknames should be based on personality traits and physical appearance." Sai argued.

"Yes, but only ones they wish they had." Naruto compromised.

"I suppose that makes sense." Sai conceded.

Both Genin turned back towards the arena so see a small pale girl being carried away by medical ninjas while a similar looking boy with long dark hair and pupil-less eyes stood smirking. Up next was the boy in the green body suit and a much smaller pale boy with a shock of auburn hair.

No one cheered for the smaller boy and even the Jounin seemed rather weary of him, which confused Naruto. He seemed fairly unstable and had alarmingly deep circles under his eyes but he didn't look particular strong or dangerous. His opponent with the thick eyebrows seemed to think the same because as soon as the fight started he ran in, fearless.

Naruto's immediate opinion of the smaller boy was proved wrong when a rush of sand flew from a gourd on his back and formed a perfect shield. Lee landed blow after blow only to have them slam against a wall of hardened sand instead of skin. From the stands Sakura urged him to use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu only to have his Jounin instructor sadly inform everyone that he only had Taijutsu.

Naruto watched on enrapt as the fight worn on. Eventually, despite his best effort, Lee got caught in Gaara's Sand Binding Coffin. His leg and arm were crushed and his muscles had broken down and disintegrated. A media ninja informed everybody that he was never going to be a ninja again.

To say the mood had dampened would be an understatement. While everyone else exchanged words or worry and pity, Sai complimented Gaara on his sand technique. Instantly the room went silent.

Gaara, who had returned to the balcony still looking a little, uh, blood thirsty, was the most surprised.

"What the hell, man?!" Kiba exclaimed. "He almost killed Lee! He's never going to be a shinobi again! What kinda heartless freak as you?!"

"It's a risk every shinobi has to take." Naruto admonished, coming to Sai's defense. Kiba growled and opened his mouth to reply but Kakashi beat him to it.

"Naruto is right. Perhaps a bit blunt, but right. As a shinobi you will see many of your fellow ninja lose their lives and you run the risk yourself. It's as a good as any other time to see the first dream get crushed." Kakashi spoke ominously. "It won't be the last."

Naruto watched on, unimpressed as the Genin came undone at the truth the Jounin offered. Occasions like this were everyday occurrences in the Root. In the organization, he and his comrades were constantly pinned against each other and many left with less than what they came in with. Only the strongest, cleverest, and sneakiest would survive. It was a simple fact.

A/N: As you can see I keep most of the fights the same, except for Naruto's. Besides interactions involving either Sai or Naruto, I'll be mostly keeping the Exams pretty canon, but I'm not gonna go into too much detail. There are way too many really good fics that follow the canon plot perfectly and honestly at this point I could probably recount all the event of the first part of Naruto in pretty decent detail. Seeing how I feel about staying to close to the plot line, you can imagine that's I'm gonna add some pretty awesome plot twists and stray quite a bit ^-^ Anyways, let me know what you think about this chapter. As for pairings, it's up to whatever you guys want but I don't really wanna do Sakura (no matter how good the fic was it always seemed weird to me 0_o) and honestly I don't know if it'd even be able to do Hinata well. I love her in canon, I honestly do, but all fic portrayals of her feel kinda off to me. One of my friends is pathetically addicted to yaoi and it trying to convince me to do Sai or Gaara with Naruto, but like I said it's ultimately up to you guys. Please R & R! Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The final fight was between the last of the leaf ninja- a Choji something, and a ninja from the sound. Needless to say the leaf ninja lost. No one cheered or booed or really seemed to care about the outcome of the battle. Even the guy that lost only mumbled something about barbecue as he was being dragged away. Lee's injury and Kakashi's words had left the arena in a strange silence. Not that Naruto was complaining, the previous chatter was giving him a mild headache.

Sai gently tapped his shoulder, getting his attention before gesturing to the arena, where the winners were gathering. The boys jumped down together and approached the crowd. There the proctors informed them that finals were going to be held in a month to give them time to prepare and learn skills that hadn't already been witnessed by their future opponent. Naruto was to fight Neji Hyuuga, the decidedly feminine boy that nearly killed his cousin. Naruto made a mental note to do some research on his clan's Gentle Fist technique. Sai was to fight Dosu, the sound ninja that took out Choji.

After hearing his pairing announced, Sai approached his opponent and attempted to introduce himself. Unfortunately, as soon as Sai greeted him as "carpet back", the ninja launched at Sai and had to be detained by two Jounin. Gai chided a confused Sai for "poking fun" at a fellow ninja. As the still perplexed boy returned to his side, Naruto could, once again, only offer a shrug.

The Genin were then dismissed but before Naruto and Sai could make their escape, Kakashi called team seven to attention.

"All right guys! We're gonna have one finally team training session in honor of our new teammates! First training field! Three minutes!" Kakashi informed them happily before disappearing in a poof of smoke.

Naruto looked in the direction of his other teammates, expecting to find them hurrying away as to not be late, but found them still standing around idly.

"…Shouldn't we get going?" Sai inquired of Sakura, who was decidedly the more approachable of the two. Obviously he had also noticed Sasuke and Sakura's apparent lake of haste.

"Kakashi-sensei is always super late!" Sakura whined. "I could probably go and get something to eat before I even needed to start to think about heading over to the training field. Oh Sasuke-kun," She added suddenly, turning away from Sai. "wanna come with me?"

"No." Sasuke deadpanned as he walked away. Sakura visibly deflated then abruptly turned back towards Sai and Naruto with an expression foreign to the boys on her face.

"How about you guys? Naruto-kun? Sai-kun?" She sounded less…confident, and was looking up at them threw her eyelashes. Sai agreed for both of them before Naruto could politely decline.

The next hour was full of Sakura fluttering her eyes rapidly until Sai inquired if she had gotten something in them and listening to the girl complain about someone she referred to as "Ino-pig". Naruto was actually mildly impressed by Sai ability to converse so naturally. Naruto himself kept silent, and listened with vague interest as Sai asked pointless follow up questions and nodded in agreement to the girl's babbling.

After about an hour of this Naruto was feed up and managed to convince Sakura that there was some possibility that their sensei had actually showed up already.

When they all finally arrived at the training field Sakura smugly pointed out that Kakashi had in fact yet to show up. But Sasuke was there, and that seemed to pacify the pink-haired girl well enough. As she ran off in Sasuke's direction, Naruto turned to Sai.

"How could you even stand that?" He asked, honestly curious.

"I was attempting to establish bonds, my books tell me that it's important to listen and take an interest in-" Sai began.

"But why are you even bothering?" Naruto interjected "These emotional bonds you seek will only be a weakness in battle."

"Well that was also my initial thought, but seeing as bonds are rather commonplace I believe there may be an upside." Sai retorted.

"Either way it's a pointless risk that could permanently affect your ability to commit yourself to a mission. I'm surprised to see how quickly you strayed from what Danzo taught us, Sai." Naruto concluded harshly.

"You both have interesting takes on the subject of bonds." Kakashi observed, surprising both boys with his sudden appearance. "I hope you do reconsider, Naruto."

"Hello, Kakashi-sensei" Sai greeted politely.

"Hello Sai, Naruto" Kakashi replied, by then the rest of the team had noticed Kakashi's arrival and walked over to where Sai and Naruto had been standing. "Considering this is your first day on the team, and we all just met, I thought we should redo some introductions." Kakashi winked discreetly at Naruto and Sai, knowing that they had been essentially spying on the team prior to the exam.

"You will state your name, things you like and dislike, hobbies, and your dream. As usual, I'll begin. My name is Kakashi Hatake. I don't wanna tell you my likes and dislikes….my hobbies…..and my dream…heh…anyways, your next Sakura."

"But you didn't actually answer any of the questions." Sai pointed out.

"Very observant. Sakura?" Kakashi prompted.

"Hai! I'm Sakura Haruno. I like….hehe…someone….I dislike…Ino-Pig! I like shopping and my dream is..hehe" Sakura answered, looking at Sasuke, who was avidly ignoring her, every time she giggled. Kakashi nodded towards Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't particularly like anything and I dislike many things. My dream which is not a dream because I will make it a reality is to a kill a certain someone." Sasuke spoke slowly, glowering off into the distance.

"Sai?" Kakashi inquired.

"Hello, my name is Sai. I like giving my friends nicknames. I dislike when my friends punch me after I give them nicknames. My hobbies are completing missions, forming bonds, and…drawing." He added after a thought, surprising even Naruto. "And my dream is to learn the upside of forming bonds and prove Naruto wrong." Sai concluded, smiling falsely.

After having everyone stare at him for a minute, Naruto caught on and cleared his throat.

"My name is Naruto. I like following instructions. I dislike failing a mission. My hobbies are learning techniques and skills necessary for my missions. My dream is to…..prove to Sai that there is no upside to forming bonds." Naruto finished, throwing in the last bit simply as something to say, as he had suspected Sai did.

"Don't you guys have last names?" Sasuke glared. No one answered, and Sai looked a little puzzled. "You know? Surnames? Or are you really just rejects without even a clan name?" Sasuke accused, snorting. There was only silence, not even Kakashi came to their defense. Sighing, Naruto spoke.

"No. We don't even really have first names. Naruto and Sai are just for the duration of our stay on this team." Naruto informed.

"How can you not have names?" Sakura gasped. "Didn't your parents bother to name you?"

"We most likely don't have any living family members." Sai answer, as if it should be obvious. At this point Kakashi joined in.

"Well, um, Sakura, Sasuke. Naruto and Sai were born and raised in a subdivision of the ANBU organization that is no longer operating." Kakashi explained cryptically.

"What subdivision? Why did it get shut down? And if they're technically part of the ANBU why are they on a Genin team?" Sasuke questioned angrily. "If they're so great why are they honoring us lowly Genin with their presence?!"

"Erm, uh, calm down Sasuke. It's really quite simple. Naruto and Sai didn't finish their training before the organization finished and the Hokage felt they would best fit in with this year's Genin ranks."

"I, personally highly disagree with her decision." Naruto added. "Before the exams, your team was only trusted to do pathetic missions like catching lost pets and babysitting."

"Before the exams? But didn't you just get here? Or have you been spying on us?!" Sasuke glared daggers at Naruto. "And what subdivision?!"

"We were called the Root." Naruto sighed. "It too bad that they were shutdown. Their perfected curriculums taught us how to contain emotion. Something you obviously need help with." At that last statement Sasuke proved Naruto right and launched himself at Naruto, tackling the boy to the ground.

They only rolled around for a moment before Sasuke being larger and stronger had Naruto pinned down.

"Like you're so amazing! Emotions are important! How can you fully commit to a mission, truly want to finish it, without any emotion? Without emotions like anger you are weak, and you look pretty weak now!" Sasuke shouted in his face.

"Well, yes. Confrontation really isn't my skillset. I prefer to strike from the shadows. Most of my missions entail simply assassinations. None of which could have been any easier if I erupted in angry or acted out foolishly because of some emotional whim," Naruto calmly responded. "But the reason I did so well is that people tend to underestimate me and the importance of having a level-head." Before Sasuke could reply, Naruto kneed him in the crouch, perhaps a move questionable in honor, and then switched roles, shoving Sasuke's face into the dirt by twisting his arm painfully behind his back.

Naruto slowly applied more pressure and lifted the appendage higher as Sasuke began flailing wilding, trying to avoiding having his shoulder dislocated, but before he could get there a pair of strong arms pulled Naruto off the boy.

Naruto frowned slightly at being denied the satisfying pop of a successfully dislocated shoulder; he didn't like leaving things unfinished. Looking up he met Kakashi's disapproving eyes…uh… eye.

"Now, now, Naruto. That's not how we treat our teammates." Kakashi chided as Sasuke stood up, dusting himself off, grumbling all the while.

"Well anyways, this meeting was mainly for introductions. I _was_ planning on some friendly sparring but I have a feeling that won't be possible at the moment. As for the finals of the exam, I'll be personally training Sasuke." Kakashi informed, causing Sasuke to smirk superiorly at Naruto. "Sai, I've asked Ebisu-san to help you. And Naruto Jiraiya-sama -one of three legendary three sannin- in case you didn't know, has personally requested to tutor you." At this Sasuke's jaw dropped, before he quickly closed it and resumed glaring indifferently.

"You'll all, with the exception of Sakura of course, will be meeting with your instructor for the finals tomorrow. Sasuke we'll meet at this training field at…..whenever I decide to show up, and I believe Ebisu-san and Jiraiya-sama will come find you themselves Naruto and Sai." The silver haired Jounin concluded.

"Dismissed!" With that their sensei once again disappeared. Sasuke sent the boys one final scowl and ignored Sakura's request for a date before walking away.

"Oh well, maybe next time." Sakura mumbled sadly. "Bye Sai-Kun! Bye Naruto-kun!"

"Good night Sakura-chan." Sai replied, giving her a fake smile.

"Bye." Naruto responded curtly. "Let's go Sai."

A/N: I'm posting this at 1:55 in the morning. I obviously have my life together. Well that's chapter three. I hope to finish the month of training and the Chuunin exam finals in the next twoish chapters. So yeah I kinda made Sasuke douche-y. Sorry, not sorry. I'm attributing it mainly to the fact the Sasuke has a bit of a superiority complex, but I'll try to be vaguely reasonable about it. I'm truly not trying to Sasuke bash that just how I think he would react. I tried not to get into the emotion debate thing too much because I want this to move at a realistic pace (i.e. Naruto won't be having an emotional break through anytime soon) but I figured I should address it at some point instead of making it seem like no one was noticing how oddly emotionally detached – or emotionally awkward in Sai's case- the boys were. Anyways, let me know what you think about this chapter. R & R! Thanks.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Sai jumped up from the couch, abandoning his books to answer the door, which was shaking on its frame from the sheer force of the knocking. Naruto followed at a slightly less eager speed. But before either of them reached the door it swung open on its own accord, revealing who he assumed were Ebisu and Jiraiya.

The larger man took up the whole door frame. He had a large spiked bush of white hair and a streak of red on each cheek. The other man stood behind him. He was the more normal looking of the two, his head was covered in a blue bandana and he was pushing a pair of tinted round glasses back up.

"Which one of you brats is coming with me?" The larger man asking in a booming voice, eyeing them carefully, looking mildly shocked for a moment when he noticed Naruto.

"What are you two waiting for? My time is in high demand and I don't have time to fool around. Now which one of you is Sai?" Ebisu lectured. Sai stepped forward, smiling falsely before being lead off by Ebisu.

"You must be Naruto." Jiraiya pointed out.

"I am." Naruto retorted.

"….well what are you waiting for?" Jiraiya scolded, "Let's go!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Why are we training at the hot springs?" Naruto inquired.

"What do you mean by that, kid?" Jiraiya asked, confused. "This is perfect! I can get some research done while you train!"

"…Alright. What are we doing?" Naruto inquired.

"Hmm…how's your chakra control?" Jiraiya questioned.

"Perfect." Naruto replied.

"Oh really? Let's see this "perfect" control. Go walk across the water!" Jiraiya demanded, smiling in an oddly superior way.

Naruto calmly walked over to the edge of the hot spring. He carefully channeled a bit of chakra into his feet before stepping on to the water. He slowly walked around for a while, before looking back to see Jiraiya looking mildly surprised. Upping the ante, he picked up his speed, running over the surface of the water without even rippling the surface. After he felt he proved his point (i.e. walking on his hands) he jumped back on to the ground and made his way back to the white haired man.

"No one likes a show-off." Jiraiya grumbled. "Anyways, before we continue, I'm gonna need you to lift your shirt."

Frowning, Naruto peeled up his fishnet shirt, revealing his abdomen. Jiraiya stared; focused on his stomach, looking up at Naruto he rolled his eyes and crunched up him face.

"What are you waiting for? Channel a bit of chakra into it, would you?" Jiraiya ordered. Naruto complied and a black seal immediately made itself visible. Jiraiya crouched down in front of the boy and placed his hand against it, causing Naruto to flinch at the sudden contact. The seal glowed a bit at the man's touch. Jiraiya's eyes widen considerably as he looked up at Naruto.

"The seal is as tight as when the forth put it on you…." He mumbled to himself.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Huh? Uh, say, what's this seal for?" Jiraiya asked with a forced blank look on his face.

"…I don't know." Naruto answered honestly.

"YOU DON'T KNOW!? HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW?! HAVEN'T YOU EVER NOTICED IT BEFORE?!" Jiraiya exploded.

"Of course I noticed. I'm not stupid." Naruto calmly stepped back and broke contact.

"And you didn't wonder what it's for?" He asked, sounding slightly more composed as he stood back up.

"Not really. If it was important to a mission I'm sure Danzo would have mentioned it. Although, know that you mention it, it is weird that it hasn't disappeared now that he's dead." Naruto mused.

Jiraiya looked confused for a moment before he remembered something. "Oh that right, you were in that damn Root program for a while weren't you?" He asked, squinting.

"My whole life. But not anymore. It has been disbanded." Naruto replied, sounding almost sad. Jiraiya staggered back as his jaw dropped open.

"What?! How did you even end up at Root?! Why did the Hokage let that happen?!" Jiraiya exclaimed.

"I am from Root. I don't see how the Hokage has anything to do with it." Naruto replied, frowning.

Jiraiya opened his mouth, looking ready to argue, but abruptly shut it. "We're going to go see the Hokage. Now." He grabbed Naruto and proceeded to drag him off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Several ANBU guarding the tower tried to stop Jiraiya but the man simply plowed them down. Eventually the others caught on and just let the angry sannin dragging the blonde boy pass. Jiraiya lost no steam on the long way to the Hokage tower; he only seemed to grow angrier as people tried to calm him down. By the time they reached the door to the Hokage office he simply smashed down the door, startling the Sandaime.

"Jiraiya, Naruto. I wasn't expecting you." The Hokage said as Jiraiya pulled Naruto in behind him.

"Well I wasn't expecting Naruto to know nothing about the _seal_! I guess we're both surprised." Jiraiya glared.

"Jiraiya, please, let's continue this conversation in private-" The Sandaime began, standing.

"Why?" Jiraiya interjected. "We're going to talk about Naruto aren't we? He might as well be here."

The Hokage sighed, settling back down. "This really isn't the right time for this."

"You're right." Jiraiya nodded. "Naruto should have known from the beginning. You should have told him, not hide him away in Root and let Danzo play his sick head games with him!"

At this point Naruto had plopped down in one of the chairs across from the Hokage and his desk, content to listen and watch in case something of importance was mentioned.

"Do you really think letting him grow up out here would have been better? The villagers haven't forgotten the baby the fourth used to seal the-_anyways_- do you really think they wouldn't have noticed if Naruto hadn't disappeared?" The Hokage reasoned.

"No, please say it. What did the fourth seal in the baby? In Naruto?" Jiraiya growled.

Sighing, the Sandaime turned towards Naruto. "Naruto, are you familiar with the story of the nine tails?"

Naruto nodded.

"As you know, about twelve years ago the nine tails was released from its previous Jinchūriki and attacked the village. In order to stop it, the fourth Hokage, my successor, sacrificed his life to seal it into a newborn baby. You are that baby, Naruto." He told him solemnly.

"I see." Naruto responded. Both waited for him to continue. "Does it change anything?"

"Does it change anything?!" Jiraiya exclaimed. "You're a Jinchūriki! Doesn't it interest you at all?"

"Perhaps he just needs time to process-" The Sandaime suggested.

"Process?" Jiraiya interrupted, incredulously. "I don't think that boy is even capable! He has the emotional capacity of a brick."

"He's just a bit dazed-wait. Where did he go?" The Hokage digressed, looking around. The chair the boy previously occupied was now empty. They looked towards it just in time to hear the door softly close. Neither bothered to go after the boy.

"Do you honestly not even kinda regret letting the kid grow up in Root?! You know Minato disagreed with Danzo's philosophy." Jiraiya glared.

"Of course I regret it! But what was I to do? Not even an hour after Minato died did the villagers start to conspire, wanting to avenge their Hokage. All the orphanages knew of the boy with the demon in him and Danzo was the only one who didn't care. So I told everyone that the boy hadn't survived having the tailed beast sealed in him and the fox died with him." The Sandaime began angrily, "I still fear that some of the adult might somehow recognize him and realize the truth."

"…..I would have taken him in." Jiraiya mumbled hopelessly.

"We both know that you were off "researching" during all of this." The Hokage reasoned.

"…but still, Root? The boy would have been better off raising himself, even if the whole village hated him." Jiraiya grumbled.

"I made a judgment call. But not one that can't be fixed. I would have taken Naruto out of Root years ago, once I was sure the villagers wouldn't recognize him, but Danzo would hear anything of it. Fighting him on it would only draw attention. But now Danzo is gone and Naruto is still young. There's hope yet." The Sandaime argued, pushing as much confidence into his voice as possible.

"I hope so." Jiraiya whispered. "He just looks so much like Minato."

"Yes I know. I quite was surprised when I first saw him." The Hokage agreed. "Luckily none of the villagers know that the fourth used his own son."

"_I_ still can't believe he did." Jiraiya mumbled.

"I'm sure he had his reasons." The Hokage reprimanded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Although, regrettably, little training was actually done-unless you count the chakra control practice- and the day was coming to an end. Naruto had managed to waste several hours being dragged along by a large angry man. Naruto eventually tired of having to hear their endless arguments and after he was absolutely sure nothing more of interest was going to be mentioned, he left. Jiraiya response to everything still confused him.

Everything the Hokage explained hardly affected the man-or really even Naruto for that matter. He didn't know much about being a Jinchūriki. At first guess he might think it would be difficult, Jinchūriki does literally mean "power of human sacrifice", but he had lived the past twelve years unaffected. His knowledge of the demon couldn't possible change that, could it?

`He briefly wondered if Sai had had any more success with his instructor. Naruto unlocked the door to their apartment and stepped in closing it gently behind him.

"Hello, Naruto." Sai greeted softly from somewhere in the dark room. Naruto flicked the lights on, revealing the other boy on the couch. "How did your training go?"

"It was rather unproductive. Yours?" Naruto asked sitting down in an armchair.

"Ebisu-sensei was rather….bookish…. I believe the word is…" Sai commented. "He spent a large amount of time trying to re-explain to me what chakra is, even after I assured him I have an extensive understanding of it. But I believe tomorrow will be more successful. Did you learn anything?"

"Nothing training related, but I did learn that I am the child that the forth sealed the nine tails into." Naruto didn't see any damage in telling the other boy.

"That is interesting. I suppose you are of the right age." Sai remarked. "Will it change anything?"

"Not that I know of, but honestly I'm not entirely sure what being a Jinchūriki entitles." Naruto replied. "But I plan on asking Jiraiya more tomorrow. Hopefully he will have calmed down by then."

"Was he upset?" Sai inquired. "That seems strange. I don't see how it could possibly affect him."

"Me neither." Naruto agreed. "…Although I expected better of you."

"How so?" Sai probed.

"What with all your books I thought you would have been able to dissect the complex psyche of humans by now." Naruto quipped.

Sai smiled before walking over to Naruto and petting him on the head in a way that might be considered brotherly before turning and walking away. "I think that might have been sarcasm, Sunshine. Maybe Sasuke is rubbing off on you. I'm…proud."

"Wait what's sarcasm?" Naruto called after Sai's form which was quickly disappearing down the hall to his room.

He paused, but didn't turn around. "It's when you say something you don't mean. It's usually meant to subtly insult the recipient. Although, sometimes the recipient lacks the intelligence to understand the sarcasm and instead perceives the statement for it face value. "

"Like deception?" Naruto inquired.

"Something like that, Naruto. Something like that." Sai muttered condescendingly.

"Why are you so quick to assume I'm not just confident in your abilities?" Naruto argued.

Sai just continued walking off; making a weird coughing noise someone might consider laughter.

A/N: As you can see this isn't going to be a fic where the whole nine tails dynamic never happens. Those always felt unauthentic and kinda like they were missing something to me (unless they are in a complete UA where it just wouldn't make sense). I really like reading fics where they handle the relationship between Naruto and Kurama differently, but the manga will always be my favorite. But for this fic, having the demon inside him won't affect him much _at first_ (and you'll see why later!). So I'm thinking one more episode of training before the finals. Probably. Anyways, sorry about Jiraiya and the Sandaime, I tried to keep them in character, I swear! Nonetheless, they were pretty OOC, or so I thought. So let me know what you thought about this chapter! R&R! Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Eh?" Jiraiya mumbled. "How should I know what it's like to be a Jinchūriki?"

"Aren't you supposed to be wise? Besides, you're quite old. Were you not acquainted with the previous Jinchūriki?" Naruto pressed. At the mention of the former container, the sannin's face drooped slightly.

"…Well yeah I guess you could say I knew her pretty well. Anyways….You want the truth, brat?" Jiraiya asked wearily.

"It's preferable to being lied to, yes." Naruto retorted. Ignoring this, the sannin continued.

"It's really stupid but there is a really big misconception about what it means to be a Jinchūriki. The word itself represents how much the person has to give up selflessly but most people are too arrogant to distinguish the actual person from the demon they're housing." Jiraiya began, "By growing up hidden away you managed to escape most of it, but normally demon containers are viewed as outsiders and are rarely accepted." Jiraiya informed solemnly.

"Does anyone besides the Hokage and us know that I contain the nine tails?" Naruto inquired abruptly.

"Erm, I don't think so. The Hokage told everyone that you died….if it ever got out that you survived it could start quite an upstart, now that I think about it. How about we keep this to ourselves, eh, kid? No need to get the Hokage in trouble…" Jiraiya trailed on nervously.

"So is there anything else I should know? Or can we continue training?" Naruto deadpanned.

"Your curiosity is overwhelming." Jiraiya grumbled sarcastically. "You're not getting the big idea are you? You have a giant beast that is basically chakra personified at your disposal! As you aged the demon's chakra's has molded and mixed with yours. With the right practice you can gain access to it just as easily as your own and have thousand times more chakra than normal. I can help you gain access to this charka but beyond that you'll need someone with more knowledge of being a demon container than me….perhaps another Jinchūriki, like B!" Jiraiya informed excitedly.

"Alright." Naruto nodded. "Let's get to it."

"Great." Jiraiya replied. "Now go climb trees or something until you're out of Chakra. I'll wait here."

"…..What?"

"Or walk on water. Makes no difference to me."

"But-"

"Henge into a tree for twelve hours if you must! Just go." Jiraiya ordered irritably.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Chakra is believed to be-"

"I know."

"It flows through your-"

"I know."

"When channeled in the-"

"I know."

"Young man, I don't have time for such incorrigible behavior." Ebisu glared, pushing his glass back up him nose.

"That's interesting to hear, for I also have no time, for repeated lessons that it." Sai replied smiling falsely.

"I honestly don't have the time for you ignorance-…." The man trailed off, distracted for a moment as a group of attractive kunoichi walked by.

"So you agree that we should move forward onto something more advanced?" Sai implored, seizing the moment.

"Wah? Er, uh, yeah." Ebisu recovered.

"Great!" Sai cheered, "Thank you very much, pervert-sensei."

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It took hours of tree walking, water walking, and various other basic Ninjutsu techniques before he was depleted enough. Naruto rarely used enough chakra to leave himself so drained and didn't appreciate how weak it left him feeling. Although Naruto had been on numerous dangerous missions of B or A rank he rarely had to rely on pure Ninjutsu. He was mostly selected for assassination or stealth type missions, during which a simple Genjutsu could leave him cloaked and a Taijutsu technique could be used to strike his target. It's a tried and tested style that had yet to fail Naruto.

As part of Root regulation he is also proficient with a sword, a fighting style he had little interest in and had promptly dropped after completing the mandatory training. Sai on the other hand still usually carried his tantō strapped to his back, even though Naruto had yet to see the boy even pull the weapon. He usually relied on his Super Beast Imitating Drawing technique.

Naruto walked over to Jiraiya who was sitting by a tree at the other end of the training field, writing furiously in a notebook.

"I've depleted my chakra." Naruto informed. Jiraiya looked up startled, jumping up to his feet.

"Great. Now you use a Ninjutsu technique." Jiraiya ordered, smirking.

"…I mentioned that my chakra was depleted, right?" Naruto asked, perplexed.

"Yes. I believe you did." Jiraiya responded pleasantly. Glaring, Naruto attempted a simple clone. All he got was a sickly looking copy of him that promptly dispelled.

"Perfect!" Jiraiya nodded happily. Before Naruto could even scoff the sannin launched at him. Reacting instantly, Naruto deftly blocked an incoming punch, only to be knocked back by an uppercut to the jaw. Stumbling, Naruto glared before regaining his footing.

"What are you doing?" Naruto bit out, narrowly avoiding a swift kick to his side.

"Helping you access the Kyubi's chakra." Jiraiya informed, smirking, pausing to form a series of complicated hand seals. "Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

Naruto barely managed to squeeze in a kawarimi before a giant fire dragon came in soaring at him. Looking back Naruto was able to nod appreciatively at the ashes that Jiraiya's technique had left in place of the log. Still captivated by the remains of his body switch, Naruto missed as Jiraiya came swooping in with a sharp hammer fist to the side of the head that left him reeling.

"I really don't see how this will help." Naruto gasped in pain. Figuring it couldn't hurt to participate in this pointlessness, Naruto ran in with his own attack. He aimed a quick jab at the man's kidney only to have the sannin grab the extended appendage and twist around it and toss the boy easily over his shoulder. Naruto rolled with the momentum and easily jumped back up to his feet, spinning around to face that man again.

"Of course it will work! Your Taijutsu is no match to mine and your chakra is depleted." Jiraiya laughed while simultaneously throwing in another barrage of punches and kicks.

"Are you planning on killing me or something?" Naruto demanded, backpedalling to avoid the man's most recent attack.

"Well no. That would anger the higher-ups." Jiraiya admitted, never stopping his attacks as he spoke. "But I did expect you to be more upset at the prospect of losing."

"Failure is inevitable." Naruto spoke bluntly, responding with a few brisk punches of his own, none of which landing. "You are stronger and more skilled than I"

"What's this I hear? That's strange. I clearly remember the Hokage bragging of your mission success rate. What was it again? Oh yeah 100%. Oh well maybe he was talking about someone else…" Jiraiya taunted.

"Are you suggesting that I am incapable?" Naruto asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Actually, I'm full out saying it. You're an incompetent ninja. All those missions you went on were probably the D rank shit they give to lowly genin-" Before the sannin could finish he was knocked off his feet by a punch enhanced with a red bubbling chakra. Gasping painfully, Jiraiya looked up in surprise to see Naruto covered with a quickly disappearing layer of visible red, sizzling chakra. The boy just looked down at the sannin blandly, not offering him a hand up.

"Nice one, Brat" Jiraiya complimented as he stood, "I think you were kinda mad there for a sec."

"I was not." Naruto retorted indignantly. "I was merely proving my competence."

"Whatever." Jiraiya glared. "Anyways, now that we've deemed that it is in fact possible to get you to use the nine tail's chakra, we need to suit you up with some awesome Ninjutsu! So what techniques to you already know?"

"Nothing really." Naruto admitted.

"C'mon, Brat, just tell me. I'm not gonna try and steal your jutsu." Jiraiya huffed.

"I'm proficient at the Body Flicker Technique and the Body Switch Technique but besides that my mission types have never needed anything besides the basics." Naruto informed.

"That's ridiculous! Even without the demon you have quite impressive chakra reserves. And mission types? What the hell does that even mean? You're too young to have already decided what you specialize in. Especially if you haven't even bothered to learn any decent Ninjutsu!" Jiraiya lectured.

"It hasn't really been up to me. I learned techniques that were necessary for mission I was assigned on. I primary get assigned to stealth and assassination type missions. Therefore I mainly equip quieter, non-attention gathering attacks. I know a considerable amount of Genjutsu and my Taijutsu skills are limited to quick killing strikes." Naruto explained.

"Oh so you're one of those little sucker-punching-attack-from-the-shadows type wimps." Jiraiya scoffed, trying his best to pretend he didn't hear him say assassination. "Too chicken to even face your opponent like a man"

"Your opinion on my skillset it moot." Naruto replied curtly, eye twitching slightly. "I do what is necessary for me to carry out my missions-"

"Enough about missions already! We run things different then the Root does out here. You're a Genin! Your skills are arguably better than the rank you we given but to the shinobi you're just a Genin. The only missions you're gonna get for a while are lousy D ranks. So get used to scooping shit. And you can bet that when you are finally given decent missions there're not gonna involve any of the stabbing someone in the back shit you're used to. Leaf shinobi have pride and honor!" Jiraiya chided.

"Root was a Leaf organization whose sole purpose was to take on the dirty jobs regular shinobi thought they were too good for-" Naruto stopped abruptly when he found a kunai pressed firmly against his throat, a thin but steady stream of blood already flowing from the shallow puncture point. Naruto looked up to see the sannin's face which was contorted in an expression Naruto could only describe as purely livid.

"Never speak badly of my village again. As shinobi we devote our entire beings to protecting our village and everyone in it. You need to understand that now or leave. I won't teach someone who has no loyalty to their own village. If you honestly don't know how to do that then think about it this way: from now on your mission is to protect the village and everyone in it." Jiraiya spoke in a deep threatening voice. "I can't tell you why you should. That's something you have to figure out yourself."

"The purpose is not important to me. I only need to know the details of the mission." Naruto replied almost instantly, undaunted by the kunai that pressed just a bit deeper into his neck.

"It should be important to you. No student of mine will be a mindless drone, taking order from just any authority figure." Jiraiya bit out. When the boy didn't respond he sighed, removing the kunai and letting the boy go. It really was like talking to a brick wall sometimes. Turning his back he walked towards a big tree.

Naruto watched mutely as the large man rustled around on the ground underneath its branches before picking something up and returning to Naruto's side. He held up a leaf proudly before handing it to the boy.

Naruto stared down blankly at the leaf in his hand.

"I figured it would make the most sense to make the first decent technique you learn your own nature type." Jiraiya explained, "Just channel a bit of chakra into this and see what happens."

Naruto complied and the leaf immediately spilt perfectly in half. He looked up expectantly.

"Hmm, you're a wind type. That's actually pretty rare." Jiraiya nodded. "It works amazingly against lightening type but fire type will render it useless….I was on a team with a wind type once, so I should be of reasonable help."

"So when do we start?" Naruto questioned.

"Honestly, you probably won't be able to master a wind technique before the last stage of the Chuunin exam…" Jiraiya considered. "_but_ if you had a, oh I don't know, Shadow Clone Technique, I'm sure you could figure it out in a couple days…"

"Teach me." Naruto demanded.

"Oh, _I _can't teach you." Jiraiya spoke in an oddly high voice, smiling oddly, "But I know a scroll that could show you how…"

"Ok. How do I get it?" Naruto asked innocently.

"Listen very closely." Jiraiya began, smiling devilishly. Naruto complied, listening to everything the man said.

Jiraiya watched Naruto's retreating form, smirking to himself. Sending Naruto on to unknowingly stir up some trouble would hardly make up for what the Hokage did to Naruto and by extension, himself. But it would be a start.

A/N: I think you guys can guess what's gonna happen next. Anyways, sorry for taking longer than usual to update. I've been busy. Reading fanfiction. Yes, that it quite sad. Thank you for reminding me. I'll probably start updating more regularly after school ends and I have more time to waste. I'm writing all the names of the jutsu in English because frankly I can't keep them straight myself. On a different note, is there anyone out there that reads the manga? And is up to date? I started reading them for the first time like three months ago and finally caught up.

So please review and let me think about this chapter or the whole story in general. I love hearing your feedback or comments on stuff. If you guys ever actually wanna talk about something relating to me story or the fandom in general feel free to PM me. Thanks and R & R!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

The Hokage's head snapped up immediately. A breeze had just hit his back. Which would be perfectly normal; the window was open. But it was a decidedly still day. There wasn't even enough of a zephyr to pick a plastic bag off the side of the road. Someone had just slipped in through the window, and had disrupted the previously still air.

The Hokage looked around suspiciously, before shrugging-perhaps a bit too overdramatically- and returning to the piles of paperwork splayed out before him. Immediately a quick yellow flash darted across the room before disappearing in the shadows. Once again the Hokage looked up, this time at a slower, natural pace. There seemed to be an extra, somewhat misplaced shadow, stretching off the leg of a chair in the corner of the office. The sandaime continued to gaze around nonchalantly, carefully keeping his eyes away from the pseudo-shadow. Turning back towards his papers, the Hokage just barely suppressed a small smile, making sure not to look up when the yellow flash once again darted across the room, this time heading towards the hall that lead to the room that contained the forbidden scrolls.

There were several ANBU hidden throughout and outside the room, acting as guards. Naturally, the average person would think the only occupant of the room was the Hokage. None of them had noticed the boy. Oh well. The Hokage nodded to himself, he'd let the search be called on when the ANBU notice whatever the boy was after missing. After all this paperwork, he could use a little spectacle.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Carefully ducking out of the window, Naruto landed soundlessly outside the Hokage tower with a scroll tucked carefully under his arm. For a moment there, the boy could have sworn that he saw the Hokage's eyes land right on him, but dismissed the though when the old man continued on with his work. It was at least five now and the sun was due to set in a few hours. If he hurried, Naruto might be able to learn this Shadow Clone Jutsu and use it to learn a wind technique today.

Slipping past crowds and through alleyways, Naruto finally emerged at the edge of the training grounds. And there was Jiraiya sitting cross legged under a large tree, once again totally absorbed with whatever he was writing in that journal. Jogging up to him, Naruto smugly presented the scroll. Jiraiya looked up at the sound of his footsteps.

"Oh hey, you actually got it? Wow. I thought for sure the old man would skin you alive…I was actually kinda looking forward to being relived of my babysitting job…." Jiraiya laughed.

"Just teach me the technique." Naruto glared.

"What? You think I'm gonna teach you it? What do you think the scroll is for?" Jiraiya asked, incredulous. Naruto stared back blankly.

"Go on, get!" Jiraiya ordered, waving him away. Scowling, Naruto turned and walked off, finding a nice spot under a tree to practice.

It took a bit of messing around, but eventually Naruto managed to undo the seal on the scroll. Actually it was a pretty simple seal. Apparently the Hokage thought his precious ANBU would be enough to keep sticky fingers away from the scroll. Not that Naruto had sticky fingers. He was merely borrowing it. He'd return it. Eventually.

It took a few minute to memorize the hand seals and after another fifteen or so to practice the individual seals. After he felt that he had perfected them enough to not miss form the seals, he attempted the actually jutsu.

He began by trying to gather up enough chakra, pooling and centering it in him. Slowly he felt the substance grow soft and pliable inside of him, easily molding to what he needed. Before he once again lost the fragile hold he whispered the technique name to himself (honestly, he was never really in favor of revealing his jutsu like everyone else seemed to be) and tried to make a handful of shadow clones.

But suddenly his control wobbled and burst. His chakra rushed uncontrollably inside of him, knocking him off his feet, before the sensation abruptly stopped. Naruto gasped at the feeling, before slumping against the tree. What had he done wrong? His control had been pretty decent, but it had suddenly burst, like his chakra had been hit from every direction.

"Well that was pathetic." Jiraiya commented, as he appeared, looking down at the boy.

"You could help me, _sensei_." Naruto grumbled sarcastically.

"I suppose." Jiraiya mused. "You truly are wasting my time having me wait for you to manage to learn this technique…"

"My chakra kinda just exploded." Naruto revealed awkwardly.

"Yeah that sounds about right." Jiraiya agreed.

"Wait, what?" Naruto inquired, dumbfound.

"Have we not been over this? You a Jinchūriki! You have massive amounts of chakra! You have to work a lot harder than the average person to control your chakra. In fact you're probably using way too much chakra to compensate. So just use less chakra but have better control over it. And aim for making at least twenty shadows clones. Even cutting down your chakra use, you'll have enough to make a small army. And it will be easy to make a lot of them then to focus hard enough to make one or two." Jiraiya explained.

Nodding solemnly, Naruto stood back up and began channeling chakra again; this time centered and molding a considerable amount less. Then he quickly flew through the hand seals, focusing intently all the while. Suddenly, Naruto was surrounded by at least fifty Shadow clones.

"Whoa. I said twenty. Disperse a few, would you? I can hardly stand being around one of one." Jiraiya chided, mumbling the last bit to himself. Glaring, Naruto allowed around half of them to disperse. The remaining clones gathered in closer, forming ranks behind the real Naruto.

"What's next?" Naruto inquired.

"Next? Please, brat. I need to see more than one lucky try. Do it again. Actually do it twenty more times. Start with making hundred, and then go down ten each time until you hit ten. Then go down one at a time until you can make a single shadow clone." Jiraiya ordered, before turning around and leaving the annoyed boy to practice the technique. "Oh, and restart each time you mess up."

It took four hours but Naruto finally managed to work down in numbers until he could make a single clone. He walked over proudly to Jiraiya, the clone trailing behind him.

"I did it." Naruto informed.

"Finally. The sun set like two hours ago!" Jiraiya grumbled. "We'll meet back here tomorrow."

"What? The sunlight isn't necessary to train. We don't have much time." Naruto pressed.

"What's the hurry? Now that you have the Shadow Clone Jutsu down, learning other techniques will be a snap. Besides, if I hurry I should be able to stop by the bath house. Women love taking a late night dip!" Jiraiya added, rubbing his hands together gleefully. Before Naruto could complain further the sannin disappeared, supposedly to go peep at women. Something that Naruto had come to expect from the man. Sighing irritably, Naruto dispersed the clone and stalked off, if he had the rest of the night off, he might as well get a good night of sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You're home." Sai greeted, as Naruto slammed the door closed.

"So are you." Naruto deadpanned. Instead of waiting for a reply, he continued on into the bathroom, and Sai heard the shower turn on moments later.

"It's always nice talking to you." Sai yelled at the shut door. Getting no reply, he continued to doodle aimlessly. Honestly, the boy could be so…so…blah, sometimes. Setting down his drawing, Sai picked up a book on the theory of personality. Maybe if he studied it intensively enough he'd be able to relay the information to Naruto. Heck maybe there'd be a chance of getting Naruto a personality yet. Then again, not everyone can be as charming and socially engaging as himself.

XXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXX

The Hokage shifted irritably in his chair as several ANBU not so gently dragged in Naruto, while another carefully held the scroll. The sandaime couldn't believe he had been woken for this. He would have just stopped the boy when he snatched the scroll in the first place if he knew his precious sleep would have been compromised. And to think, he was right in the middle of an extremely pleasant dream involving a utopia in which a certain yondaime had survived…

"Uh, Sir?" an ANBU donning a tiger masked inquired gently.

"Hmm?"

"..So…this is the guy that stole the scroll."

"Hello, Naruto." The Hokage greeted.

"Hello."

"Well, just put that scroll back for me will you?" The Hokage asked of the ANBU.

"Uh, of course, sir! But aren't you going to punish him or something? An offense like this is punishable by-" The ANBU began.

"Yes, yes I know. Naruto is a special case. Don't worry too much about." The Hokage muttered, ushering everyone out of the room. Turning back to the sole remaining occupant, he gestured to a chair across from his. Naruto sat down politely.

"How are you this fine evening-or should I say morning?" The sandaime asked.

"Fine." Naruto retorted curtly. The silence stretched awkwardly.

"You know, I would have let you borrow the scroll, had you asked." The Hokage mentioned.

"It seems to have worked out fine anyways." Naruto pointed out.

"Yes, well, I think we can both agree that it would have been much more pleasant for the both of us if the ANBU hadn't have had to track you down and wake you in the middle of the night." The Hokage argued.

"Actually, I had just woken up. And if you don't mind, I'm going to go train now." Before the sandaime could argue the blonde boy was slipping out of a window.

"Who trains at three in the morning?" The Hokage mumbled aloud.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Did you seriously wake me up and drag me out here at three?" Jiraiya grumbled, leaning against a tree, still half asleep.

"Well I did." Naruto retorted. "Now teach me some wind jutsu."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just make some clones already. A hundred should do fine." Jiraiya ordered weakly. Naruto complied instantly.

"So how exactly does using shadow does clones help?" Naruto inquired, "Couldn't I just use regular clones?"

"Did you not even read the scroll?" Jiraiya asked incredulously, "A shadow clone is different from regular clones for a few reasons. First, shadow clones have actual substance and can take a hit or two. Secondly, each clone remembers the experiences it has. Meaning that if you make one hundred clones you can learn one hundred times faster. Theoretically you could learn something that would take normal person months in a day."

"So why doesn't everybody do this?" Naruto pestered.

"Shadow clones take a lot of chakra to make and most people can't make enough and still have chakra left to do the actually technique." Jiraiya clarified. "Anyways, back to the task on hand. Your new jutsu, Wind Release: Whirlwind Fist!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

*Morning of Last Exam*

To say the last few weeks had been painful would be an understatement. During his month long break Naruto had had a crash course in chakra control and learned more Genjutsu that he had learned in the last twelve years of his life. He had memorized dozens of hand seals and made thousands of shadow clones. On the bright side, he could now easily make a single shadow clone, and had gotten proficient at a couple different wind techniques. On the extremely dark side, even his oddly enhanced healing couldn't keep the aches and bruises away and he had all but killed Sai on several occasions. How the boy stayed so cheery all the time rubbed him the wrong way, especially after a long hard day of training.

But now he was standing side by side with Sai waiting for the rest of his team-who he had barely even seen the past month- to gather so Kakashi could lead them all to where the test was being held. Finally the whole team was assembled, Kakashi being the last naturally. The air was oddly somber and even Sakura kept her usually girly giggles down as Kakashi lead them away. This was going to be interesting.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: Wow it's been a while. I feel like I updated yesterday. Anyways I didn't really include much of the training because I wanted to save the actual use of the jutsu for when Naruto is fighting. Also it probably seemed like Naruto learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu really fast but I'm attributing that to the fact that he had Jiraiya there to help him. And it's like midnight where I am and I just wanna sleep. So sorry if this has a bunch of really stupid typos or any other mistakes. Please Review! Thanks!


End file.
